Translator’s Corner (Cast: An English Clown and a Landlord)

Landlord: You fool!

Clown: I’m a clown, fool was my grandfather!

Landlord: That joke is old already.

Clown: He was pretty old…

Landlord; What?

Clown: My grandfather, he was at least three thousand years old! He was completely senile by then…

Landlord: You’re clearly his granddaughter…

Clown: Did you need something, Landlord-san?

Landlord: Yeah, the police wants to see you.

Clown: Oh, my… Did I turn invisible?

Landlord: I wish!

Clown: I do too!

Landlord: …

Clown: So… a joke! What does a real estate agent use for birth control? His personality

Landlord: … Listen “clown”, you know the police station by the Goshinji temple? Yeah, go there.

Clown: Will they give me a lollipop?

Landlord: Hopefully, they’ll give you a decade of “rest”…

.

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Life in the Royal Capital

055. Adventurer Registration

There’s only one thing to do now that we signed the contract.

Right–celebrate.

I couldn’t venture into the unseen lands yesterday, but today is different.

「Myormiles-kun. Do you have any plans after this?」

「Fufufufu, danna also enjoys it, huh. This Myormiles has the perfect shop in mind!」

「Hoho! But, are you aware that I have high standards for these things?」

「Please leave it to me! I am completely certain that you shall be pleased!」

And thus we spend the night drinking.

I dare say! What a blissful day!

And like that for a week.

I’m still in the care of Myormiles’ establishment.

Of course, I’m not just messing around the whole day.

Using『Shadow Step』I went to let Rigurdo know about our arrangement with the Brumund Kingdom, and to order Bester to mass produce medicine, among other things.

I also didn’t forget to order Kaijin and Gerudo to lay a road all the way here.

And, to have them prepare lodging space for adventurers who would eventually show up and train people to repair armor and weapons.

Though we just finished one construction spree, everyone seemed eager to start another.

After giving out orders, I would come back and spend the night drinking; that’s how busily I spent every day.

Upon receiving my orders the city livened up with action.

It should be fine to leave it to them. At this rate, they should finish the road within the next two months.

The money I made from selling medium grade medicine (high potions) totaled 110 gold coins. Combined with what I already had, I currently have 126.

I gave 100 to Myormiles so that he’d deliver vegetable sprouts and seeds, and spices of every kind to our city. But I still have 26 left.

Since that’s quite a large sum I planned to splurge to my heart’s content, but there was nothing I wanted to buy.

The week’s worth of drinking was covered by Myormiles.

He probably intended to ensure favorable relations considering our future joint endeavors.

So he really let me have my way. In other words, I received the best treatment imaginable.

Myormiles is definitely a useful man.

And that’s how I became friends with this merchant.

But I’m not letting my guard down.

Myormiles is softening people up with a smile on his face. That’s the mark of a true merchant.

He also lends out money at the highest interest rate, and I’ve seen many potential customers visit him daily.

But it seems that he doesn’t meet these people personally; rather, he leaves it to his store attendants.

As expected of a licensed merchant, he has many ways of making profit.

There’s also some nobles who come to him to borrow some money.

Debt is a frightening thing. It can always be used.

Well, since both parties intend to benefit, betrayal is unlikely. Merchants first and foremost consider both party’s profit. Rather than relying on a poor alliance it’s better to establish trustworthiness.

This whole week I’ve been trying to ascertain his character with intention of confirming viability of future cooperation.

Signed the contract and arranged future deliveries.

I guess it’s time to set off on a journey.

I let Myormiles know my intentions.

「Thanks for the past week. I’ll come to hang out again!」

「Danna… I’ll be waiting for your return! Please, please, come again!」

「Yeah. In two months I’ll send a group to guard and lead you to my city.

They’ll come in my name, so you’ll know it’s them. I leave it to you.」

「Understood!」

We parted after this exchange.

The attendants and other customers were surprised at his humility.

I didn’t understand why at first, but after thinking for a moment it made sense: shop owner who normally acts arrogantly suddenly acts so humble to a child–certainly a bizarre scene.

Maybe I should have changed into my adult form during our conversation. Well, too late now.

And so, I left the shop.

After leaving I headed straight for the Freedom Association.

They already wrote an introduction letter to Kagurazaka Yuuki.

Of course, I’m planning on going to get it, but I also need to finally get an ID in this world.

The country has promised to recognize my person, so I’ll be registering at the guild.

Otherwise, I’d have to go from country to country demanding identification every time I visited, and that would be pain.

If I register as an adventurer, I would be recognized not by a single country but by every country that cooperates with the Association.

After registering, unless some troubles come up, I should probably make my way towards the Ingrasia Kingdom.

Without delay, I lined up to the receptionist.

They seem pretty free at noon, so I quickly got to see somebody.

「Registration, please/」

「Little girl, isn’t it a bit too soon for you?」

The receptionist lady softly rebuked my request.

That’s to be expected, considering my appearance. It’s still a pain, though.

「I don’t mind, there’s no problem.」

After I said so the receptionist lady reluctantly handed me the registration form.

I filled in the form she gave me.

Name, age, specialty, birthplace, and such.

Seems like I need to fill in only what I know.

So I only filled in the name and identified myself as a swordsman.

With that, I finished filling in the form. Next, I would need to decide which guild to join.

You can join more than one, so it’s not something to fret about.

I decided on the Subjugation Division.

「Little girl, that’s a dangerous one. Are you sure?」

The worried receptionist said, but I told her not to mind it.

I wondered if she’d give up, but

「In that case, let’s hold a trial.

If you leave the city gates, the lowest rank is not F, it’s E.

So, I can’t recognize you without a trial first.

What will you do? It’s alright to give up, you know?」

Just joining the Freedom Association would make you an F rank. To join Combat Specialized Divisions, however, you would need to be at least E rank, huh?

I see.

「In that case, please put me to a test.」

I decided to accept the trial.

As long as it’s not a written test, there shouldn’t be a problem.

The receptionist lady stood up and went inside. Then, she brought a man.

He’ll probably oversee the test.

「You are being tested, huh? Whatever. Come at me.」

He said, and had us move to another building.

The bored adventurers who saw this began to murmur among themselves.

「Oi oi, that small child isn’t planning on testing, right?

That’s too ridiculous!」

「Wanna bet on whether she passes or not?」

「Stop it, the outcome is clear!」

「But, she did have a strange sword on her hip. Never seen one like that before!」

「Seemed pretty skillful too…」

They whispered to each other.

Since there’s little to kill time with, they probably jump on the opportunity to discuss these kinds of things.

In the end, they wandered after us to observe.

The test was held in a building as large as a gymnasium.

The test to move unto the next rank is also held here. You can’t take requests without an appropriate rank, so you can take the test at any time.

For that purpose, a proctor from every guild is always present.

But since proctors are sometimes relied upon in times of need, they are mostly hired from among rank A- adventurers retired from military service.

Similarly, the man in front of me, albeit young, is missing a leg.

He probably lost it performing his duties and became a proctor instead.

「I’ll say this ahead of time. If you pass, you become E rank, and are allowed to subsequently challenge D and C rank, and above.

However, if you fail, you have to first earn 100 F-points before testing again.

Do you understand?」

F-points are obtained from F rank requests.

Rewards and points differ between different levels of requests. In short, you get rewarded for your skill.

Doing the same thing over and over, after all, only troubles everybody.

「No problem.」

I answered, and the proctor nodded in return.

And, pointing at the ground,

「The test will be conducted within a magic circle. Enter it. After you finish your preparations, we begin.」

Where he pointed lay a twenty meter in diameter magic circle.

I entered it. At the same time, a dome like barrier was erected.

Some people were excitedly looking this way.

「I’m ready!」

I shouted.

「Alright. In that case, defeat the opponent before you!」

The proctor said, and poured magic into the circle.

Summoning magic.

And a single hound appeared before me.

It’s often used to practice. But, that’s all there is to it.

Faster than the dog could growl, and maybe even faster than it could show fear of me.

I decapitated it in a single slash.

「Yo. Defeated, next one please!」

I was welcomed by silence.

「A-amazing…」

I heard that whisper.

The proctor for the first time showed confusion.

「You… weren’t a beginner?」

「No, I never said I was, did I? In any case, I want to quickly become A ranked!」

「Sorry, you can only test up to B here; B+ rank and above are conducted at the headquarters only.

So, what now? Will you test up to B?」

「Is that so… Got it! In that case, I’ll go up to B, please.」

It’s a pain, so let’s get it over with.

Since I’m heading there anyways, I might as well take every test up until then.

Nodding at my words, and after having regained his composure, the proctor summons the next opponent.

D → Hound Wolf

C → Giant Bear

C+ → Giant Bat

I’m smoothly cutting through every foe he summons.

The audience is now silent, observing my fight. Chances are, they are simply glued to the scene before them.

In any case, I’ve been able to cut down my opponents with a single slash thus far.

I laughed when a giant bat appeared. How many years has it been since it first attacked me!

And after defeating it, I was already up to rank C+.

The next one is rank B.

「Superb. To think you were so skilled…

B rank monster is strong. Are you ready?」

「No problem. Please send it in!」

Thus, the last enemy was summoned.

A demon with four wriggling arms. Named: Lesser Demon.

That’s the first time I’ve seen a demon race. I kind of want to eat it and obtain its abilities.

「That monster is a lesser demon! Physical attacks won’t work against it.

Now, what will you do? You should give up now! Wounds from this thing might just kill you!」

The proctor exclaimed, somewhat excited.

He’s probably just bitter that I’ve defeated all the enemies so easily up until now.

But what should I do? I don’t really want to show my skills or magic.

While I was pondering this, the lesser demon’s eyes flashed red, and he started chanting magic.

Then, he fired four fire balls at me. As expected of a B rank monster. Truly amazing.

I easily dodge the attack, feeling them gaudily explode against the barrier behind me.

However, did the three idiots really defeat this thing alone?

「Hey, isn’t a lesser demon something you challenge with a team?」

「Yeah. I was just thinking that.」

「Hey, hey. Defeating that alone is impossible. That’s like a rank B+ test!」

I heard such exclamations.

If I look closely at the proctor, his eyes are bloodshot.

Hmph. I guess some hazing is to be expected. Whatever.

Physical attacks aren’t really effective. It’s only half corporeal, after all. A demon race, it seems, is an ethereal being that possesses intelligence and obtains a body.

The lesser demon was annoyed at the fact that I kept dodging its attacks, so it came at me with its four arms.

I could simply eat it.

I have no choice, let’s envelop the sword with magic. A magic sword.

Like I always do, I bring out a bit of my aura; and, I carefully infuse some into the sword as if not to be revealed as a monster.

Now, all I need is to slash at it.

The lesser demon was cut in half by my sword, turned into rubbish, and disappeared.

「Yo. The end? Is that good enough for B rank?」

The audience was silent for a moment, but…

「Amazing~!!! Girl, you’re so cool!」

「Take your mask off and show us your face for a second!」

「You perverts! Don’t mind them and form a party with us!」

And other similar grand statements resounded throughout the hall.

What a ruckus.

The proctor also seemed to have calmed down or something, saying

「Wonderful! You pass! You pass with flying colors.」

He shook my hand.

He probably completely forgot the hazing a moment ago. Not that I care.

And, ignoring the requests from the audience, I proceeded back into the main building to finish the formalities.

I was recognized as a B rank adventurer and received the appropriate card.

Name: Rimuru

Rank: B

Specialty: Sword

Division: Subjugation

That’s what the card reads. It seems they didn’t include the sections I left blank.

Alright. I can now call myself an adventurer.

I received the card and said my thanks.

The receptionist lady now treated me different. Though she previously treated me as a child, she now acted with respect befitting another adult.

As expected of a professional. She’s quick to rectify her behavior.

Leaving them behind, I proceeded to impose on Fuze. I had someone lead the way.

We went through the magic circle, and knocked on the door.

When I entered, Fuze turned to me and exclaimed,

「Oi oi, you’re standing out too much!

To cut a lesser demon with a sword… don’t you know how to hold back!

A magic sword, right? Even enchanters can’t use that much power, so you’ve done it now!」

「Hmm? Did I cause a problem? Actually, if you were looking then you should have stopped it!」

「Seriously… I didn’t even have the time to…

It’s fine. Magic swords have been introduced by “World Travelers” and are experimental right now.

So, there’s few people who use one.

We’re planning to make it our trump card against monsters, so users are selected by invitation only.

I’ll silence the proctor, but be more careful from now on!」

Infusing magic into a sword – though you’d expect it to be a common technique – it’s actually really difficult.

Well, if there weren’t people watching, I’d just eat it.

Though I pay it no mind, it seems that I have many high grade skills. So having selected this one on a whim, I stood out too much.

Not like I’m planning to fight in front of everybody from now on.

But I should be more mindful from now on.

「Thanks. I’ll be more careful from now on. And, I’m off!」

「Right! Pass my regards to the headquarters. And be careful!」

After thanking Fuze and picking up my introduction letter, I left the Freedom Association.

I got a Guild Card as my identification, and earned money for my travel expenses.

Arranged support for my city, and even formed diplomatic relationships with a country.

Not bad for a first outing.

If possible, I would rather not fight against humans. Forming a friendly relationship and cooperating with them from now on would be best.

And thus ended my stay in Brumund.

Next on my list is Ingrasia Kingdom’s Royal Capital.

To meet Freedom Association Headquarter’s Grand Master Kagurazaka Yuuki.

I thus resumed my journey to meet a fellow world traveler.